or in derision of those that had been cowards; the former they
declared happy and glorified; the life of the latter they
described as most miserable and abject. There were also vaunts of
what they would do, and boasts of what they had done, varying with
the various ages, as, for example, they had three choirs in their
solemn festivals, the first of the old men, the second of the
young men, and the last of the children; the old men began thus:

We once were young, and brave and strong;

the young men answered them, singing,

And we're so now, come on and try;

the children came last and said,

But we'll be strongest by and by.

Before they engaged in battle, the Lacedaemonians abated a little
the severity of their manners in favor of their young men,
suffering them to curl and adorn their hair, and to have costly
arms, and fine clothes; and were well pleased to see them, like
proud horses, neighing and pressing to the course. And therefore,
as soon as they came to be well grown, they took a great deal of
care of their hair, to have it parted and trimmed, especially
against a day of battle, pursuant to a saying recorded of their
lawgiver, that a large head of hair added beauty to a good face,
and terror to an ugly one.

The senate, as I said before, consisted of those who were